Do expensive CD Players sound better?

Hi Koushik,
I wish I knew the 'why', but I a quite willing to swear that sources make differences to enjoyment not just sound quality. It's not about self-deluding snobbery, although there is some of that surely. In the case of Turntables it is obvious perhaps that improved mechanical integrity reflects in better performance. While some of that applies to CD players also, thats not all there is. Try playing a base model CDP in a highly revealing system, and you will find that it may be unlistenable after sometime. Not being a technical person, the reasons are beyond me. But sources are very important, and it starts much earlier in the equipment pecking order than one might expect.
Purnendu

There are articles like this all over the place. You can even find “all amps/cables sound the same” and similar such stuff all over the web. Borrow a decent cd player from a friend and use it for a day and see if you can hear a significant difference, if not don’t bother. Make sure you use a decent interconnect / speaker cables and listen to a good recording that you are familiar with.
Most people can’t detect differences beyond sound which is clear and digital-clean. It could even be that it is not important for them. “Clear and digital-clean” is something you get with all digital sources (dvd or whatever). Beyond that, sound starts getting more natural and musical. If it is important to you, you will EASILY hear it.

kousik_s schrieb:

Just came upon an interesting article here http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/cdcosts88.html and was wondering is there any wisdom in investing in a dedicated CDP than a DVD player or in investing in a more expensive CDP than a cheap one. If this is true, then why? Thanks

I can assure you you will not get a answer to this. All we will end up doing is have a long thoretical discussion and end up discussing if powercables will make a difference or not

Square wave has made a good point. take your source to any willing audiophiles house and compare his cdp with yours and you will get your answer

Dear Kousik,

If you can refute follwoing assertions / assumptions, you will find the answer to your questions:

-All printers print the same (provided their resolution is the same)
-All monitors appear the same (provided same resolution)
-All graphic cards perform the same (provided they have same speed & memory)
-All TV appear the same (provided they have same screen size & type)
-All girls are beautiful (provided they have same statistics & complexion) Did I say that ?

All this would be true if we were to remain in the digital domain - same set of zeroes & ones. But the trouble is in all these examples we leave the zeros & ones and enter to beautiful world of "analogue". It's no longer just black or white OR 3 primary colors OR just statistics & complexion.



Regards

Sanjay

kousik_s schrieb:

Just came upon an interesting article here http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/cdcosts88.html and was wondering is there any wisdom in investing in a dedicated CDP than a DVD player or in investing in a more expensive CDP than a cheap one. If this is true, then why? Thanks

In VERY GENERAL terms, the short answer is BOTH "yes" & "depends"!!

The answer is "yes" if your system is very revealing (like square_wave mentioned) & you can hear a wide dynamic range of music. In such a case, the more expensive CDPs have better chassis, transport, electronics, chassis damping, power supplies, etc. All this goes towards overall better sound.

The answer is "depends" if you cannot differentiate between an expensive CDP & one that is moderately priced or cheaply priced. Again, this is a function of your system & how well you hear.

Your music is as good as your source. So, your source should be the best 'cuz what is lost at the source output can never be regained.
HOWEVER, it makes no sense in having a kick-ass CDP feeding into a sonically highly compromised pre & power/integrated. These sonically highly compromised electronics will constrict the CDP & will give you overall mediocre sound.
So, have your CDP fit the rest of your system so that you know that each piece is giving its best at all times. I.E. do not have the CDP over-built.
When you are in the process of upgrading, you will have a disparity, which is OK as you are transitioning from system A --> B with the goal of B being better than A.
FWIW.

Also, in my experience, DVD players make far better transports than CDPs. That's because of their more sophisticated laser systems designed to play higher density video disks. In general,DVD players do not make good CDPs because the DACs are not optimized for audiophile sound - they are good enough for movie soundtracks. Again, FWIW. IMHO.

Hi,

Let me try to give a technical perspective here, you can choose either of the below:

Case 1:
- Use a good expensive CDP, and send its analog line out to a stereo amp (typically stereo amps do not have digital in)

Case 2:
- Use a cheaper (good brand) CDP, and use its digital/ optical output to a AVR

In case 1, you use the DAC (digital to analog converter) in the CDP, and here quality matters. Cheap CDPs wont be able to do a good analog conversion.

In case 2, the CDP simply transmits a digital stream as stored in the CD, and you use the DAC in the AVR, and typically AVRs from good brands do a decent job of analog conversion.

Hope this helps.

- Debu

In case 2, the CDP simply transmits a digital stream as stored in the CD, and you use the DAC in the AVR, and typically AVRs from good brands do a decent job of analog conversion.

And then what, plugin the analog out from your AVR to your stereo amp

Dear Kousik,

Let's look at it in another way. Imagine two small offices:

Office A: 6 clerks sitting & working together, each one doing ten different types of jobs.

Office B: 1 clerk sitting alone and doing only one task that he is trained in.

You know what to expect in terms of work outcome from these two offices.

The first is a DVD player and the second is a dedicated CD Player. And there can be further differences in how well each office is equipped, ergonimics, work environment, etc. Everything effects quality of work - although quantitatively it may all be the same.


Regards

Sanjay

IMHO opinion the best options for music are

1)Low jitter DVD Player -> DAC -> Stereo Amp
2)Stream off a hard drive via USB -> DAC -> Stereo Amp
3)Squeezebox(or something similar) -> DAC -> Stereo Amp

Bringing in an AVR in between is pretty pointless since you can get a far better DAC at the same cost of an AVR. I use the second out of those option. An even better option is to put a device(DIP) to reduce jitter in between the transport and the DAC :P.

Hey Chaos Buddy,
Did you recieve your DAC that you had ordered online ?

abhi.pani schrieb:

Hey Chaos Buddy, Did you recieve your DAC that you had ordered online ?

OT: got it more than a week back :). Now gotta do a comparo ;).

kousik_s schrieb:

...wondering is there any wisdom in investing in a dedicated CDP than a DVD player or in investing in a more expensive CDP than a cheap one....

How good is your ear? Have you listened to a lot of music you like to have a standard of comparison?

Don't pay for differences you can't hear.

And

No matter what you buy today, you will soon want something "better" tomorrow.

And

A hundred spent on intellegently improving the room acoustics can have as big (or bigger) impact as putting another thousand into better components.

reignofchaos schrieb:

abhi.pani schrieb: Hey Chaos Buddy, Did you recieve your DAC that you had ordered online ? OT: got it more than a week back :). Now gotta do a comparo ;).

Oh...you got it...howz it ?
Is it better than your Maudio ?
When are you coming ?

SuhasG schrieb:

A hundred spent on intellegently improving the room acoustics can have as big (or bigger) impact as putting another thousand into better components.

That's very true

Regards

Sanjay

Thanks to everyone for your inputs.